reMYND raises 12 million EUR to assess clinical proof-of-mechanism in Alzheimer’s and to expand into orphan disorders

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Leuven Belgium, December 18th, 2018: reMYND NV announced today the closing of a 12 million EUR financing round to

 

Based on its proprietary phenotypic screening platform, reMYND develops novel curative treatments against Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and orphan protein-misfolding disorders to tackle these diseases at the root rather than managing only the symptoms.

reMYND’s lead Alzheimer’s program ReS19 combines fast cognitive restoration with protection against loss of neurons. The clinical candidate has been selected, scaled-up its production and is currently in the last stages of pre-clinical testing before clinical evaluation.

At the end of 2017, reMYND entered into a strategic collaboration with Novo Nordisk on reMYND’s diabetes program ReS39 aimed at restoring insulin production in diabetes animal models. Novo Nordisk has now decided to take this program in-house and to move the lead into the last stages of pre-clinical testing.

reMYND’s 2nd Alzheimer program counteracts neuronal excitability and its novel target has been featured in a high-profile publication. The clinical candidate is currently being selected.

During 2018, reMYND has leveraged its proprietary discovery platform to identify novel treatments against Huntington, further extending into Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and other CNS orphan disorders.

In order to advance these programs and broaden its portfolio, reMYND has closed a financing round of 12 million EUR, co-led by PMV and Korys, with participation of the existing shareholders including BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, KU Leuven, Gemma-Frisius Fund and Dr. Bernard Majoie of Fondation Fournier-Majoie. Christoph Waer of Korys will join amongst others Chris De Jonghe of PMV, Ajit Shetty, Rudy Dekeyser and Paul Van Dun in reMYND’s board. Together with the annually recurring proceeds of reMYND’s service business, grants and collaboration, these funds will allow reMYND to advance its Alzheimer program into clinical testing and to assess its novel mechanism in patients, whilst broadening the pipeline of CNS orphan programs, expanding the service offering of its CRO and strengthening the executive team and board.

 

About reMYND

reMYND NV, founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the University of Leuven, drives the development of disease-modifying treatments against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and other orphan protein misfolding disorders.  To fulfil this mission reMYND is organised as two independently managed business entities entailing a Drug Discovery & Development unit and the Contract Research Organization (CRO).

reMYND’s most advanced own program, ReS19, restores calcium homeostasis in Alzheimer’s, a process central in the disease cascade leading to neuronal demise and build-up of plaques and tangles. By targeting the disease in its tracks, ReS19 combines the best of both worlds: delivering a more robust immediate symptomatic benefit on synaptic plasticity, cognition and cerebrospinal biomarkers, while in the longer-term preventing build-up of plaques and neuronal loss.   

reMYND’s diabetes program ReS39 sustains and increases the endogenous insulin production capacity and insulin signalling in animal models of diabetes, providing fast symptomatic relief combined with durability. In addition, ReS39 reduces liver weight and its triglyceride content, making it potentially also relevant for NASH and the metabolic syndrome. The program has previously shown a similar protective effect on dopamine producing neurons in Parkinson’s mice, the most common motor disorder.

In addition, reMYND’s in-vivo Contract Research Organization (CRO) helps its clients to assess the pharmacokinetics, -dynamics and efficacy of their experimental treatments against Alzheimer's disease in reMYND’s proprietary mouse models. Our mission is to be a strategic partner for our clients and help them identify the most promising set-up to assess potential effects. Given the extensive experience fully focused on Alzheimer's disease, reMYND’s CRO can contribute its expertise for every type of Alzheimer treatment in any form of application. The CRO is serving 6 of the top 10 pharmaco’s worldwide and its client-base covers the US, Europe and Japan. The CRO has provided in-vivo proof-of-concept data for several candidate drugs that reMYND’s clients currently have in clinical development.                                                                  

reMYND has been substantially supported by grants from VLAIO/IWT (Flanders, Belgium) and from the Michael J Fox Foundation.

For more information, contact reMYND at info

[at] remynd.com, + 32 16 75 14 20 or visit www.remynd.com

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